BROCKTON – A Brockton man who murdered his wife in the 1970s and raped a child in the 1990s took the witness stand Wednesday to defend himself in another rape case from 2012.

Frank A. Benjamin Jr., 68, was arrested in Brockton on rape charges in May 2012, just six months after he had been released from prison for a rape conviction.

On Wednesday, Benjamin was on trial in Brockton Superior Court where he told the 13-person jury that he did not rape the alleged victim and detailed his relationship with the woman.

Benjamin testified that their relationship was largely based on him supplying the alleged victim with alcohol and crack cocaine in exchange for sex. Meanwhile, he told the jury he never drank or took drugs during their encounters.

Benjamin said during a period from February to May 2013 he spent between $800-$1,000 to buy mostly drugs and alcohol for the woman in exchange for sex.

When asked by Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Jessica Healy if he saw a problem with feeding the woman’s addictions to alcohol and drugs while he himself was sober during their sexual encounters he said, “No.”

On May 23, 2013, Brockton Police responded to Spring Street to a report of a domestic violence incident that had taken place earlier that day. A male friend of the victim had called the police.

Brockton Police Sgt. Scott Besarick responded to the scene and spoke to the victim. He testified in court Wednesday to discuss what he saw that day.

“She was very upset, she was crying, she was shaking. She seemed intoxicated a little bit,” Besarick said. “She had a swollen right cheek and she had some bruises on her arm and her left forearm was bruised.”

The victim told police she had been raped at 2 a.m., that morning and awoke to find Benjamin on top of her. She did not leave the apartment and, about two hours later, she told police that Benjamin had thrown a cell phone at her and hit her over the head with a hairbrush.

Benjamin’s attorney Joshua Wood said that the woman had fallen back asleep after the alleged rape. At around 4 a.m., the woman became angry because Benjamin did not have all of the money he had promised to give her.

When the woman tried to leave his apartment at that point, he would not allow her to leave, something Benjamin admitted to.

Benjamin also testified that he had indeed grabbed the woman’s cell phone out of her hand as she was trying to call her friend around 4 a.m., and threw it at her arm. In addition, he said he “tapped” the woman on the head with a hairbrush after she had thrown it at his face.

Page 2 of 2 - Later that day, when Benjamin was sitting in Besarick’s cruiser on the way to the police station to be booked, he told Besarick that “all those injuries weren’t from me,” Besarick said in court.

Benjamin said he never told police that the woman had thrown the brush at his face. He also testified that when he saw his parole officer the morning of May 23, he purposefully did not tell him what had happened earlier because he thought he would be sent back to jail.

Both Healy and Wood rested their cases Wednesday.

They will give their closing arguments Thursday morning and the jury is expected to go into deliberation.

Benjamin is charged with three counts of rape, three subsequent offense counts of rape, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault and battery and intimidation of a witness.

If convicted, Benjamin may fall under Melissa’s Law, which would see him receive the maximum sentence for the crimes that the law applies to, including rape, without the opportunity for parole.

Benjamin went to prison after murdering his wife in 1974 by stabbing her in the neck outside a Worcester bar.

He was released on parole and moved to Norfolk County. In 1996, he went back to prison for 15 years after pleading guilty to repeatedly raping a girl.

In 2012, six months after being released from prison from the rape conviction, he was arrested and charged with raping the victim in Brockton.